Saturday, February 07, 2009

DAY 38: To Your Corner

Elena has a lovely new phase. Maybe you'll remember me saying that a few weeks ago she wouldn't leave the living room? Maybe you'll remember that she's recently phobic of being knocked off her feet or of slipping on ice (or the kitchen linoleum floors)? She's quirky, to be sure. Lately, however, she's moved into a specific corner in our family room. She has provisioned this corner so she rarely has to leave it, except to eat or use the bathroom. Coupled with her new found ability to channel surf, she is perfectly content to stay there in her corner all day long. Her mother is starting to get worried.

I find myself understanding the need for one's one place and stuff around them and loving that this corner is a corner in a room we all frequent. I get a little worried that she has memorized the daytime game shows my father watches and can be heard shouting along to "No Deal, No Deal" (as she calls it) right along with him. She seems to at least be a part of it all...whereas when she was in her living room corner stage, she was separate from us all. I like that she's around, shuffling toys, trimming paper (my sister calls her the Yankee Clipper) and playing quietly at projects and solitary games. My dad recently joked that we need to throw some cedar chips over in that corner and install a wheel...sort of bang on, actually. It is slightly more like having a pet than a daughter.

2 comments:

If Amelia didn't have Oliver who keeps her busy most of the day, she would do the same. She has "The Cave" which is the little nook she's created behind a big chair in our living room. When she scurries in there she can then turn around and access her "library" which are her zillion books that she loves to touch, reorganize, reread, and generally fawn over. VERY similar over here. Oh, and recent phobias include elevators getting stuck closed and stink bugs (which she's never seen).